I have been accepted to do my PhD at York Uni in October and my tuition fees are being paid for me by a health centre which I am conducting the research for. My problem is what to do about my living costs. I dont want to fail my PhD because I am working so much that I cannot concentrate on my research.

Does anyone know of any grants or financial support I may be able to get?

Any ideas are welcome I just feel worried because I am doing my PhD full time and that is the only option I have!

The best person to ask is whoever is supervising you.

Thanks for your comment. My supervisor is responsible for finding me an association which were happy to pay my fees. A part of me thinks maybe this is just the way PhDs are e.g you have to work at the same time and just grit your teeth?

vicky, where are you from?

there are many different ways to finance a PhD - just about as many as PhD students...

having your fees paid for you is already half way there.

to add to that, you can apply to your university's research fund; to the research council; to your home country, if you're not British; to the international federation of university women; and many more places.
you can also get try to get a loan from a bank, or assistance from your parents.
and you can get a little job to make up for the shortfall. don't worry - whereas there are some lucky people who are fully funded, most everyone does work a little on the side. there are advantages to that, too (i.e. time structures)

Hey Shani, I just read your article. Very interesting! I didn't know you're at LSE. That's a tough environment. But one of the best.

jouri, and there was me thinking, no problem in advertising that article on here as hardly anyone here reads german...

i've got to say that my original submission was a lot more critical of the "english" system but the editors didn't believe me. they mentioned a lot of experiences of swiss people who went to england as visiting PhD students 5-10 years ago and enjoyed it all through. i told them that things had changed significantly since then. but they made me use a more moderate language. oh well, maybe that's to the better.

and yes, LSE is... well... i guess at the end of the day, it's more important wether you've got a good supervisor, the reputation of the uni matters less. as has been discussed often on this forum.

Hi Shani, thanks for getting back to me sorry for the late reply.

I will be doing my PhD at york uni in UK. I always thought i could work part time but even that is a struggle (to find a decent job which will pay your bills and is flexible).

In terms of applying for funding from the uni/ research council etc do I have to go through that with my supervisor and will i be entitled to the money or will it be my supervisor who receives most of it?

I am pretty clueless as you can tell!